1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to index indicators, index display methods and recording mediums storing an index indicator program and, more particularly, to an index indicator, an index display method and a recording medium storing an index indicator program which indicator, method and medium are adapted to use in a search system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional keyword-based systems including an address directory system and a customer management system provide selection of a desired keyword in the form of a scrolled display of keywords so as to allow associated information to be retrieved.
In the description below, it is assumed that the user may require a search in the Japanese language. Hereinafter, the term "line" is used to denote a set of syllables in the 50-syllable system of the Japanese language. For example, the "A" line comprises the syllables "A", "I", "U", "E" and "O", the "Ka" line comprises the syllables "Ka", "Ki", "Ku", "Ke" and "Ko", and so on. The syllables (referred to as letters in this specification) "A", "Ka", "Sa", "Ta", "Na", "Ha", "Ma", "Ya", "Ra" and "Wa" are at the head of the respective lines.
For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 7-212452 discloses a system for searching for a call destination from an electronic telephone directory, wherein a line-to-line scroll key is used to scroll through keywords in the order of "A", "Ka", "Sa", "Ta", . . . , and an intra-line scroll key is used to scroll through keywords in the order of, for example, "A", "I", "U", "E" and "O" in the "A" line.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 8-297679 discloses a system wherein a slider for indicating a relative position in a list of search keys is displayed in association with an input frame in which a search key is entered. By sliding the knob of the slider, a search key corresponding to the knob position is displayed. When the search key displayed is asserted, the database is searched for the corresponding information.
In a system wherein the method disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Application No. 7-212452 is used, the letters "A", "Ka", "Sa", "Ta", . . . at the head of the respective lines are scrolled through in the stated order using a line-to-line scroll key. With such a system, the user cannot know the number of keywords that begin with, for example, "A", "I", "U", "E" and "O" respectively. The same thing is true of the "Ka" line, "Sa" line, "Ta" line and so on. Moreover, this system requires two steps before reaching a keyword in that the user must scroll between lines and then scroll inside a selected line. Thus, the search according to such a system requires a cumbersome process.
In the system in which the method of Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 8-297679 is used, the user can readily know that keywords that begin with the letter "A" are listed at the head of the slidable area, assuming that the search keys (keywords) are sorted in the order of 50 syllables of the Japanese language. However, the user cannot know the positions, in the slidable area, of keywords respectively beginning with, for example, the letters "Sa", "Ha" or "Yu". This is because the number of keywords that begin with one letter differs from that of another letter. For this reason, an extended period of time is required for the user to arrive at a desired search key by sliding the knob of the slider. Thus, the search according to such a system requires a cumbersome process.